Agreed: borders between Germany and Poland
wiping out Nazi influence arrangements for reparations

Outcome: USA prevented Soviet Union
involvement in the rich Ruhr area of Germany and occupied Japan. The Soviet
Union blocked American involvement in Eastern Europe.

The Soviet take-over

In 1946 Churchill described how an iron
curtain was being put across Europe; the iron curtain divided Soviet-style
states in Eastern Europe from democratic capitalist states in Western Europe.
Between 1945 and 1948 the Soviet Union imposed communist governments on several
East European countries:

• Poland

• Bulgaria

• Romania

• Hungary

• Czechoslovakia

The communist coup in Czechoslovakia in 1948
particularly angered people in the West.

For the Soviet leader, Stalin, the take-over
was a defensive move: an attempt to build up a friendly buffer between the USSR
and the Western capitalist states.

For the American leader, Truman, the take-over
was an offensive move: the first step in a Soviet attempt to impose communism
on all the countries of the world.

The American response

Between 1945 and 1949 the Americans developed
a policy called . 'containment'. This involved using the power and wealth of
the USA to try to stop or 'contain' the spread of communism, first of all in
Europe and later throughout the world.

Containment in Europe

1947: The Truman Doctrine

The American President Truman said that the
world was being divided into free, democratic countries and undemocratic
communist states. Truman promised help for any people who wanted to resist
communism and immediate help to anti-communist governments in Greece and
Turkey.

1947: The Marshall Plan

The economy of Europe was in ruins at the end
of the war. The Marshall Plan, named after General George Marshall, the US
Secretary of State, aimed to re-build the European economy so that it could
resist communism. In theory, East European countries could join but the
Americans made it clear that communist states were not welcome.

1949: the founding of NATO

The USA took the lead in organizing a military
alliance of non-communist countries in Europe and North America. It was called
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. All members agreed to defend each other
in case of Soviet attack.

1949: the setting up of West Germany

At the end of the war Germany was divided into
the British, French, American and Soviet zones. The city of Berlin was also
divided into four zones. At first both the USA and the USSR wanted a unified
Germany. When the Soviet Union took control of much of Eastern Europe, America
moved towards the setting up of a pro-Western state in the British, French and
American zones. West Germany, officially known as the Federal Republic of
Germany, was established in May 1949.

The Soviet reaction to containment

Stalin, in turn, saw American actions after
1945 as aggressive and a threat to the Soviet Union. The Soviet response was as
follows:

1948-1949: the Berlin Blockade

West Berlin was an island of democracy and
capitalism in the Soviet zone. Stalin was worried by the possibility of a
strong West German state. In June 1948 Stalin blocked all road and rail
transport with West Berlin. This was a failure. Britain and the USA organized
an unprecedented airlift to stop West Berliners from being starved out. The
blockade was ended in May 1949. The blockade accelerated moves towards a
separate West Germany and the NATO alliance.

1949: COMECON

In January 1949 the Soviet Union tried to
answer the Marshall Plan by setting up a trading bloc of communist countries.
It was called the Council for Mutual Economic Aid or COMECON.

1949: the setting up of East Germany

After the official establishment of West
Germany the Soviet zone of Germany was turned into a separate communist state,
officially known as the German Democratic Republic.

1949: the Soviet atom bomb

The USA had a monopoly of atomic weapons after
1945. Stalin ordered Soviet scientists to produce an atomic bomb and in 1949
they succeeded.

1955: the Warsaw Pact

In 1955 NATO was expanded to include West
Germany. The Soviet Union created a military alliance of communist countries
known as the Warsaw Pact.